The Legend of Tokyo Taoist

Chapter 137: Training trip (10)

Just when Inuyama Heita was about to step on empty air and fall into the river, Qian Xiaoyi grabbed his collar and pulled him back.

"The challenge failed, Heitaro." Qian Xiaoyi, a cigarette between his lips, looked at the pale sky and said, "Look at what you have in your hands?"

Inuyama Heita only felt that he was holding a cool and slippery thing in his hand, and that thing was still moving. So he looked down and found that it was actually a fat toad. He screamed in horror and threw the toad away. The toad fell into the grass and hopped away.

Inuyama Heita said frustratedly: "I thought I was holding a token charm..."

He felt sleepy and tired now, and didn't know how long he had been wandering in the ghost realm. He had been constantly fighting through the foxes' teasing, and finally got the token and was about to return to the shrine, but he still got fooled and went down the wrong path. If Qian Xiaoyi hadn't stopped him, he would have definitely become a drowned chicken.

"Inuyama, hey, Inuyama! Look to the side!" Ajian's noisy voice rang in his ears: "Look at me, look at me! Can you hear me?"

Inuyama Heita wiped his hands on his clothes, trying to wipe off the slippery feeling. He said to Ken with disgust, "Stop yelling, Mr. Ken. It's so noisy. Where were you before?"

"I have been by your side, trying to get your attention. I kept reminding you just now, but you didn't listen at all." Ah Jian was also very tired: "Brother Yi said that he wanted to train my influence in the ghost realm created by other ghosts. I have been trying hard to interfere with the fox demon's illusion. Didn't you hear my voice at all?"

Inuyama Heita shook his head blankly: "Not at all, Mr. Ken, your presence is too weak."

"Huh? Aren't you just too slow?" Ajian was very angry.

"Okay, let's go back before it gets light." Qian Xiaoyi yawned, "If we go back early, we can sleep for two or three hours."

Hearing this, Inuyama Heita complained, "We're not going to have to train like this every day for the next few days, are we? If we stay up late every day, our hair will fall out."

Qian Xiaoyi said: "No, just one night is enough. I am too lazy to watch over you every day."

Ah Jian's eyes lit up: "Does that mean we don't need special training anymore?!"

Inuyama Heita was also cheered up. He really couldn't bear such special training every day.

"You wish." Qian Xiaoyi smiled and said, "Heitaro, haven't you noticed yet? You have been 'marked' by those foxes. They can affect you without the ghost realm. From now on, the special training at night will be the same as before, but it will be in dreams. I will set up a barrier in your room so that they can't trick you out by inducing you. But in dreams, I don't have the final say. You must try hard to maintain your cognition that you are dreaming, otherwise you will embarrass yourself in front of others."

Inuyama Heita was shocked: "When was it marked? Why are they looking for me?"

"Oh, I marked you before you came." Qian Xiaoyi shrugged and said, "I used your hair to forge your identity, scribbled and vandalized the shrine, and committed blasphemy, so of course the foxes would play a prank on you to retaliate."

"How can this be possible!" Inuyama Heita was very angry.

Ajian asked: "But are those foxes really monsters? This is the first time I have seen a real monster."

Qian Xiaoyi said, "The origin of Shintoism is the local shamanism, which believes that all things have spirits. The so-called eight million gods are like this. We also have various animal gods in the northeast. Those foxes are the residual cognition accumulated when the shrine was worshipped in the past. In addition to the bonus of the shrine area, once activated in some way, this special ghost domain will appear... Well, this is in the shrine, it should be called the God's Domain."

Inuyama Heita nodded: "I understand."

Ajian said, "I don't understand at all." After secretly returning to the hotel, Inuyama Heita and Qian Xiaoyi slept for a while in their respective rooms, then got up and had breakfast. After that, Inuyama Heita couldn't hold on any longer and went back to his room to rest. It seemed that he could not participate in today's activities.

"What's wrong with Inuyama-kun?" Owada Yui asked curiously, "You look sleep deprived. Did you not sleep well? What did you do last night?"

Several boys were also a little confused. Kawasaki held the bowl and said, "He didn't do anything. He just played poker for a while and then fell asleep. Could it be that he had a nightmare at night and didn't sleep well?"

"Maybe he's used to his pillow." Sato said, "Some people are like that. It's hard for them to fall asleep in an unfamiliar environment."

Miyamoto Yuzhi raised a question: "But he slept well the night before... Did he do something shameful last night? Hey, girls, did you close your doors at night?"

Suzuki sighed and said, "Your words are already harassment. Maybe he just didn't sleep well."

"That's true~" Miyamoto Yuzhi suddenly said excitedly: "Compared to that, Ono-san, you seem to be in much better spirits than yesterday. Can you go out today?"

Ono Haruna nodded like a lady and smiled, "Thanks to you, I'm feeling much better now. I felt a little uncomfortable yesterday, but I can't stay in the hotel all the time. It's rare for me to go out for a walk."

"That's true." Miyamoto Yuzhi said attentively, "Kawasaki said he wants to go fishing today. Just wait and see. I'll take care of Ono's share. I'm sure we'll catch some big fish."

"Thank you." Xiao Ye covered his mouth and smiled: "But I also want to try it myself. I have never fished before..."

Sato said: "Is that so? Then I'll teach you later. My dad taught me in Hawaii..."

"Are you Conan-kun?" Suzuki complained expressionlessly.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Everybody was chatting and laughing happily in the cafeteria, but Qian Xiaoyi glanced at Ono Haruna's face out of the corner of his eye. The girl's complexion was indeed much better than before, but Qian Xiaoyi always felt that something was wrong. The change was quite big in just one day.

When she first arrived, Qian Xiaoyi could still see her fear and uneasiness about this old place, and what happened last year was still affecting her. If she was infected by the simple rural atmosphere after arriving, that would be even more strange, because she had a day off yesterday and didn't go anywhere.

With doubts, Qian Xiaoyi kept observing Ono Haruna silently during the subsequent activities, but no matter whether they were fishing by the river, swimming in the river, or eating grilled fish at noon, the girl behaved very normally and became happier and happier, and she didn't seem to be affected by last year at all.

The high school students were playing by the water, filled with the sour smell of youth. Qian Xiaoyi yawned and sat down by a tree to sleep for a while. When they were packing up and going back, they unexpectedly ran into a group of people wearing black kimonos and formal clothes on the road. The woman in the lead was holding an urn in her hand and was led by a monk towards the cemetery on the mountain.

"It's the Honda family's funeral..." Kawasaki said, "Is today the day of the funeral? I remember when I was a child, Grandpa Honda gave me a lot of candy... It's really unpredictable."

"Can I go over and take a look?" Qian Xiaoyi suddenly asked.

Kawasaki was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "If you just take a look, it should be fine."

(End of this chapter)